Book-index



(No Model.)

No. 533,811. Patented Feb. 5, 1895.

In venzor:

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. HON.

BOOK INDEX. No. 533,811. Patented Feb. 5, 1895.

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BOOK INDEX. No. 633,811. Patented Feb. 5, 1895 wvu'rsnoronm I 3' m: NORRIS PETERS co, mom-mm. WASHING 111111 c.

NrTaD STATES PATENT Erica.

JOSEPH HON, OF NAPOLEON, KENTUCKY.

BOOK-INDEX.

$PEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,811, dated February 5, 1895.

Application filed June 5, 1894. Serial No. 513,586. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH HON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Napoleon, in the county of Gallatin and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Book-Indexes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has relation to certain improvements in the art of indexing books, and consists in certain peculiarities in book-indexes, substantially as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

One object of the invention is to reduce the time and labor required to find and turn 7 to a particular section, chapter, page or word of books, such as the Holy Bible, dictionary, 850.

Another object of the invention is to provide an index which will enable any desired section of the book to be turned to without requiring the user to turn the book endwise and observe the names of the sections in or at the ends of the several notches and which will dispense with the necessity of printing the names of the sections on the several pages of the book and on the outer side of the cover thereof.

These objects are accomplished by the constructions illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a Bible, embodying the invention, said Bible beingshown as closed and as having one end of the cover removed to show the notches in the top of the book. Fig.2 is an edge view of the same, showing the notches in the bottom end of the book. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a Bible, closed. Fig. 4 is a view of the Bible, opened at a place near the commencement of a section thereof. Fig. 5 isa view of the Bible opened at the middle of a section. Fig. 6 is a view of the Bible, opened at the end of a section, said Bible being shown as having a modified form of cover. Fig. 7 is a view of a closed Bible, looking at the side thereof which is opposite that seen in Fig. 1, and showing on said cover guide strips pointing to the notches in the end of the book, which strips, however, need not be employed. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a Bible opened at the center of a section, and shows the manner of indexing when the section contains a number of books, as in parts of the Bible. Fig. 9 is a view of an opened book, other than the Bible, embodying this invention as modified to apply thereto. Fig. 10 represents an index constructed in accord ance with this invention, especially adapted for dictionaries.

The same letters and numerals of reference designate the same parts in the several figures.

In carrying out this invention use is made of the featuresnot broadly new with meof dividing the book into sections, each section having in the end edges of the leaves forming it, a notch, A, and the name, or other proper designation of said section printed,or otherwise suitably delineated on the part of the leaf at the end of said notch and exposed thereby, and of forming the side edges of the leaves of the respective sections with notches, A, so disposed relatively to each other that a plurality of the page, or other proper designations of the leaves thereof, will be exposed at once; whereby the section desired may be quickly found, and turned to with one operation, and the desired page of said section also be quickly found and turned to. Each of the principal notches A (which refer to the sections) preferably commences at the center of its section, and the subordinate notches, A, which refer to the parts of the sections, increase successively in number in the pages of the respective sections, from the beginning of the section (commencing, obviously at the top of the second leaf of the section) up to said center thereof, and then decrease in number, step by step, from the center to the end of the section. Thus, it will be seen that the book is opened at the center of the particular section desired, instead of at the end thereof, whereby the page, or other designations of the whole of that section will be exposed, and may be turned to with one operation after the book has been opened at the center of the section. Thus never more than two operations are required to find and turn to any particular part of any section. The arrangement, just described, of the ICO notches will be clearly understood by comparing Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings with each other.

In indexes as usually constructed it is necessary to turn the book endwise and refer to the names on or at the ends of the notches, A, in order to turn to the particular section containing said notch; or in other words, a pro-requisite to being able to turn to any particular section is to look at the several notches themselves. It has been proposed to overcome this disadvantage by printing on the outside of the covers of the book, letters corresponding with those printed in or at the end of the notches, said letters on the covers serving as guides by which the notch desired may be found when the book is closed, without looking at the notch itself, and also to print opposite the notches letters'corresponding with those seen when the book is shut, which will obviate the necessity of looking at the notches to find any particular section, when the book is open. This proposed means, however, is very disadvantageous, owing to the heavy additional expense incident to its use.

To gain the advantages of being able to turn to any particular section of the book from any place in the book, whether forward or rearward of the section desired, and also to find any section when the book is closed Without looking at the notches themselves and without requiring the names of the sections to be delineated upon the pages throughout the book is one of the principal objects of the invention. To accomplish this object I have shown two designating means in the accompanying drawings, one of said means being intended for use when the book is open and the other when the hook is shut. The former of said designations consists of four lists, each two of which lists consists of the names or other proper design-ations'in one half of the book and each of the other two lists consis'ts of the names or designations of all the sections in the other half of the book, said lists being located one at each end of each cover and having the names so arranged and located upon them that when the book is open the designations of one or the other list of each pair of lists will be opposite the notches to which they respectively refer. The construction and arrangement preferred by me consists in extending somewhat the ends of the covers of the book and in imprinting or otherwise suitably delineating upon each extension at the top of the book a full list of all the sections in the front half of the book and upon each bottom extension a full list of all the sections in the rear half of the book, the names, or rows of names, being opposite the notches to which they respectively refer and so arranged upon the lists'that when the book is open the names (or rows of names or designations) in the similar lists will be in reverse order with respect to each other, so that when the book is 0 on at any section the notch of each of the ot er sections will be opposite one or the other delineation referring to it, as clearly shown in Figs. 5, 6, 8 and 10 of the drawings. This form of designating means, however, is not claimed specifically herein as it has been made the subject-matter of a separate application for patent filed by me November 14, 1894, and serially numbered 528,815. These extensions may be integral parts of the remainder of the covers, as shown at B, Fig. 6, but to so construct them would, perhaps, be disadvantageous in that the book would take up considerably more space than absolutely essential. I therefore prefer that they shall be flaps, B, flexibly connected, as by the leather of the binding, with the principal part of the cover, as shown in several of the figures of the drawings, so that they may be turned in at right angles with said principal part of the cover and parallel With the end edges of the leaves of the book, and also turned back so asto be in the plane of the ends of the principal parts of the covers, as shown. This construction has the additional advantage of concealing the notches in the ends of the leaves, when the book is closed. The flaps are stiffened similarly to the other parts of the covers, and therefore it becomes necessary to provide a suitable means, such as the fastener, 1), shown in Fig. 3, at each end of the book for locking them in folded position,which means is ftutheradvantageous as it serves to keep the book from opening accidentally.

The designating means intended to be employed when the book is shut consists of a plurality of strips, 0, one for each notch A, each affixed to the cover opposite its notch, some of said strips being longer than the others, and each of them having the name of the section referred to by the notch to which it points placed on or opposite to it. There one notch joins or overlaps another, or where a notch is parallel throughout a part or all of its length with another notch, the longer strip refers to the notch farther from the cover and the shorterstrip to the notch nearer the cover. Thus, if it is desired to turn to The Gospel According to St. Matthew the user places his thumb in the notch which is opposite strip, 1, and nearest the cover, while if he wishes to turn to The Acts of the Apostles he places his thumb in the notch opposite strip, 2, which latter is made longer than strip 1, because the notch to which it refers extends to a point opposite to, and is farther from the cover than the notch referring to Matthew. Thus, it Will be seen that both the length and position of the strips serve asguides indicating the position of the notchesto which they respectively point, and they are therefore much more efficient than the means heretofore proposed for this pur pose. They are also especially advantageous for use in thick and narrow books and in IIO other books having such number of subjectsmatter to be separately designated that it would be impractical or disadvantageous to so arrange the notches that none will be parallel throughout all or a part of its length with any other notch. The two designating means above described may be used separately or together without departing from the spirit of my invention. The names of the sections may also be imprinted on the leaves of the book, at the top and bottom thereof, as shown at 3 and 4, Figs. 5, 6 and 8 of the drawings.

Having thus given the above general de scription of the invention it will now be described in its application to books of certain difierent characters.

In indexing the Holy Biblethe New Testament of which is selected as the example according to this invention, each section consists of about sixty pages, although this number may be varied when a single book of the testament consists of a few more or less pages than said number. Upon the parts of the leaves exposed by the notches A when the book is opened, is printed in-large figures h number or numbers of the chapter or chapters commencing upon either-or both of the two opposite pages, and in small figures the number of the verse at the end of the opposite page. If the user wishes to find the third verse of the eighth chapter of St. Matthew, the thumb is placed in the notch A marked Matt. and the book opened to the page upon which said name is imprinted, which page is, as above stated, the central leaf of the section. He then places his thumb or finger in the notch A, marked 8 9 -4 (as the preceding number 7 shows that the seventh chapter ends at the bottom of the page following the one upon which said number 7 is printed) and turns back the leaves which are rearward thereof. hen a single section contains a numberof books, the names of all of said books are printed upon the proper places exposed by said notches, A, together with the chapter and verse numbers, as shown in Fig. 8. Thus, if the user wishes to find the fifteenth verse of the second chapter of Second Timothy, he places his thumb in the notch opposite the column containing Timothy, and opens the book to the center of said section, (which in the present examples will be the first page of Hebrews,) and will find exposed by the notches on the left hand side of the book the names of the several books,to-

, gether with the chapter and verse numbers,-

contained in said half of the section, and on the right hand side the names of the book and chapter and verse numbers in that side of the section.

If the user wishes to turn from a section at the rear end of the rear half of the book to a section in saidrear half but forward of the section already exposed, he casts his eye upon the list at the bottom of the front cover and he will find therein the name of the section to which reference is desired opposite the notch to which it refers; while if he desires to turn from a section in the rear half of the book to a section in the front half thereof he finds it by first looking at the list at the top of the front cover and as the notches are opposite their respective designations the user will have no difficulty in placing his finger in the proper notch, notwithstanding that the latter or the name within it is concealed from his view.

WVhen a section contains a plurality of books of the Testament, the names of said books will be imprinted on the cover, extension thereof, or top and bottom of the page, opposite the notch, in the regular order in which said books come in the section.

It is extremely advantageous in indexing the Bible, that each section consists of a substantially equal number of pages, rather than to devote a single section to each book thereof, and to imprint the names of the several books in the parts exposed by the side notches, A, as above described, because with such construction the necessity for a multiplicity of notches is avoided, without creating liability to confusion, and without increasing the number of motions required to find any particular part of a book containing but few pages.

The manner of indexing a dictionary in accordance with this invention is shown in Fig. 10. The principal notches are placed so that the book is opened at the center of the respective sections, and each section is sub-divided into six, more or less, subordinate sections, each of which has its separate series of side notches, A, and, upon the parts of its pages exposed by said notches, the words which are at the heads of their respective pages. Tabs, D, are placed in exposed positions, on the sides of the pages which divide two subsections, so that when the book is open." at the end of the principal section the first word of each page of the third andfourth sections is seen, as are also the tabs which indicate the other subsections, and by opening the book at the page containing the tab on the left hand side, the words of the first and second sub-sections will be seen; and, similarly, by turning back the pages containing the tab on the right hand side of the book, the words at the tops of the pages of the fifth and sixth sub-sections will be exposed. In the construction shown the tabs are exposed from the cen' tral page of the section by forming the third and fourth subsections with a notch at the opposite ends of which said tabs are located. Each of the principal sections is preferably devoted to and contains all the words commencing with the same letter of the alphabet and upon the tabs above referred to are delineated the first and last words of the subsections to which they respectively refer, while the side notches expose the words at the top of the respective pages. Thus any word of the dictionary may be quickly and easily found.

Other data than that above set forth may be used for facilitating ready reference without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Obviously, either or both of the above-described designating means on the cover may be employed with this form of index.

Although I have described this index in its particular application to dictionaries it will be apparent that this is done for purposes of illustration only, and that it is adapted for use in books of various other classes and presents a practical substitute for either of the other forms of indexes herein described.

In indexing books of types different from those above mentioned, in which it is desired to find page rather than book, chapter or word, each section will preferably consist of about forty pages, and upon the parts exposed by the principal notches, A, is placed the number of the page which is at the head of said section, and upon the parts exposed by the side notches, A, is placed the numbers of every alternate page in said section. the user wishesto findpage 55, he opens the book at section marked 40, in the principal notch A, as said section contains all pages between forty and eighty, both inclusive. Page can then be turned to with a single motion, by placing the thumb on the side notch containing 54, and turning back the leaves following the same.

From the above it will be readily seen'that an index constructed as above describedcontains many advantages over those heretofore proposed, which will cause it to commend itself to those persons familiar with this class of invention.

Having now described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, and what I therefore claim, 18 v 1. An indexed book,dividedintoaplurality of principal sections each of which is subdivided into a plurality of subordinate sections, devices designating the centers of said principal sections, and designating devices for the sub-sections, said latter designating devices being located at the page'bounding two op- Thus it'- posite sub-sections and being exposed from the center of the principal section, each subsection having a separate series of side notches designating its page, substantially as described.

2. Anindexedbook,dividedintoaplurality of principal sections each of which is subdivided intoapluralityof subordinate sections, devices designating the centers of the principal sections, designating devices for the subsections, said latter designating devices being located on the page bounding two opposite sub-sections and being exposed from the center of the principal section, said sub-sections having independent series of side notches, and designating means on the cover arranged opposite the principal notches to which they respectively refer, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

3. An indexed book, divided into a plurality of principal sections and formed with parallel and approximately registering notches designating said sections, said sections being subdivided into subordinate sections having independent series of side notches designating the pages thereof, and guide strips of unequal length registering with their respective notches designating the principal sections, substantially as described.

4. An indexed book having its leaves provided with parallel and approximately registering notches designating its sections and having its cover provided with guide strips of unequal length registering with their respective notches, substantially as shown and described.

5. An indexed dictionary, divided into a number of principal sections, each having a designating notch opening at the center of the section,'and said sections being sub-divided and provided-with exposed tabs on the pages bounding two opposite sub-divisions, said subsections having independent series of side notches, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH HON.

Witnesses:

THOS. H. KIRBY, ARTHUR VANIOE. 

